Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,426: Count Dooku

COUNT DOOKU Arena Battle
The Legacy Collection Target Exclusive Geonosis Arena Packs 2010
Item No.: Asst. 97645 No. 97651
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #5 of 6
Includes: Lightsaber, Nicanas Tassau figure
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $12.99
Availability: Ocotber 2010
Appearances: Attack of the Clones

Bio: The Jedi Knights rush to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme from execution. The Jedi brandish their lightsabers against the Geonosian warriors and the massive army of battle droids, super battle droids, and droidekas. All hope seems lost that any Jedi will survive this battle, then Yoda arrives with an army of clone troopers. Although many Jedi are lost that day, others survive this climactic battle that ushers in the Clone Wars. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' kitchen.

Commentary: Minor upgrades are inevitable in this line, especially now as Hasbro has stated that a lot of their figures are about as good as they're going to get. You can't get much better than super-articulated, so it makes sense that for now all Hasbro did to make a new Count Dooku was create a new head sculpt. The body is based on the 2005 Evolutions sculpt, which has a cloth element to allow the Sith to sit were he so inclined. (He never had the need to, as the only vehicle that was made for him included a unique figure.) There's not much to say about the body other than it was good before and it's good now, although the head is particularly interesting because it deviates from the earlier designs quite a bit. Since 2002, Hasbro made the Dooku figures with heads that were certainly a little more elongated, or a little more narrow.

My first reaction was that this looked like a guy dressed up as Count Dooku, but after giving it a really good look I think Hasbro nailed it. Aside from the fact the figure has a hard time looking straight ahead-- his head tilts up-- the look is right. The shade of white for the hair and beard may not be perfect, but hair color is hard to nail perfectly. With a tinge more grey he'd be perfect, but this sort of thing is not easy nor is it always financially sensible to do perfectly right when what they did really does look just fine. If you look at his face sculpt, you can tell that the expression and the basic form seem to be way better than anything previously released by Hasbro. His hair seems a smidgen thicker, and his emotions seem a little more subdued-- he's not smiling or being evil, he's just there. It looks great, and we already had an "angry" head on this body with the previous release. This may be the best overall Dooku to date in the movie line, so I would put it at a strong "buy" in spite of the figure with which he is packed.

Collector's Notes: The new Geonosis sets seem to be selling well in my market, save for Anakin and Obi-Wan. People have it figured out. There's no reason to skip this set if you've never bought a Dooku, so go get him if you need to add to your growing army of Sith.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,426: December 1, 2010